Breaking a one year lease with early termination fee - 30 days notice required?
Hi,
I moved into a new apartment in Downey last May with a friend of mine. After a couple of months, I notice that my friend has been stealing from me. I asked her to move out and now I have to break my lease for safety reasons. I signed a one year lease (my friend luckily is just an occupant) and in the agreement there is a clause (clause no. 8 below) that if you cancel the agreement earlier, you have to pay the early termination fee of $1,500 plus any bonuses given to me upon sign-up (I was given a $200 move in bonus). I am willing to pay the $1,700 to get out of the lease and the apartment but the resident manager would charge me an extra 30 days to break the lease. I am moving out in July 20, since I already paid July's rent - I need to then pay an extra 20 days of rent to suffice the 30 days notice.
In the agreement, there is nothing stated that I have to give a 30 day notice when I am breaking the lease. All it says is I have to pay the early termination fee. For me, it feels like they are double charging me. They kept on telling me that it is California law but I am insisting that nowhere in the agreement it states that I have to provide 30 days if cancelling the lease. Is it really California law? Need your help on clarification please. Again, I am willing to pay the $1,500 cancellation fee plus give back the $200 move in bonus they gave me but I feel it's too much to pay an extra 20 days of rent if I am not going to be there anyway.
On a side note, I do see a 30 days notice required on the agreement only if the one year lease has expired and your agreement has been converted to a month to month which doesn't apply to my situation. (clause no. 20)
Look into the link below for relevant clauses within my lease agreement:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8283/clausesjc7.jpg